AUBURN - The Auburn women's golf team returns to the course this week as the Tigers host the NCAA East Regional Championship at the Auburn University Club. Play begins Thursday morning with tee times off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees.

Hosted by Auburn, the NCAA East Regional is a 54-hole stroke play championship will take place at the Auburn University Club in Auburn, Ala. The par-72 course will play at 6,259 yards for the tournament. The tournament field of 24 teams includes nine teams ranked in the top-25 of one of the major polls as well as 11 teams that won their conference tournament.

"It is a tough field and we definitely have our work cut out for us," said student assistant coach Danielle Downey. "But, we are at our home course this week, a place we are very comfortable, so we are looking forward to just going out and playing."

Head coach Kim Evans is missing the tournament because of health issues. In her absence, Downey has stepped in to assist the team through the week.

"With Coach Evans being out, it is good that we are at our own course," said Downey. "The girls have really been taking care of their own business. I know they are going to play this for Coach. They have worked hard and I am proud of them. I am just trying to make her proud and get these girls to nationals."

Auburn, making its 18th-straight NCAA Regional appearance and 20th overall, is the No. 14 seed in the field. Alabama is No. 1, followed by Arkansas, UCLA North Carolina and Virginia in the top five. Oklahoma is No. 6, followed by Tulane, Texas, Notre Dame and Northwestern to round out the top 10.

SEC foes Tennessee and Kentucky are the No. 11 and No. 12 seeds, respectively, followed by Texas State at 13, Auburn at 14 and Central Florida at 15. Penn State (16), East Carolina (17), Florida International (18), Ole Miss (19) and East Tennessee State (20) make up the rest of the top-20. Tennessee-Chattanooga, James Madison, Eastern Kentucky and Alabama State round out the field at seeds Nos. 21-24.

Trapani is second to Sanz by just .06 in stroke average, coming in at 74.83. She is coming off a tie for sixth at the SEC Championship a couple weeks ago.

"It is really exciting to be here after the rough season we had," said Trapani. "It is nice to have a little advantage, because we play this course every day. We have been playing well the last couple weeks and hopefully we can keep that going."

Play begins at 7:30 a.m. CT, Thursday with tee times off the Nos. 1 and 10 tees. Auburn will lead off the second wave of tee times, taking the course at 12 p.m. off No. 1. The Tigers will be playing alongside Texas State and Central Florida.

Fans can follow the action with live scoring at www.GolfStat.com. All tournament information can also be found at www.AuburnTigers.com/NCAA/golf/.